Maximizing Capabilities in Flexible Operation with a New Hydrocracking Catalyst

A new maximum saturation hydrocracking catalyst, HC-470LT, has been developed to fill a gap in Honeywell-UOP’s Unicracking^TM catalyst portfolio in the flexible region between the naphtha and jet/distillate catalysts in order to better meet customer needs.  This catalyst was tailored for customers who are (1) looking to increase distillate production from existing naphtha hydrocracking units, but also would like to retain the option to revert back to max naphtha operation and (2) converting distillate hydrotreaters to diesel upgrading seeking increased product volume swell.

During the initial phase of the project, four different zeolites were screened and evaluated against two commercial reference catalysts.  The best-performing formulation was then chosen for scale-up activities. Scaled-up prototype catalyst performance was evaluated in a larger pilot plant and activity/yield curves were generated for the new catalyst along with the two references.  Product samples were fractionated off-line and each cut was analyzed in order to compare product quality. 

This talk will discuss the project test methodology, from the initial catalyst screening phase through the scale-up phase.  Select catalyst performance results and product quality comparisons will be shown for the new flexible hydrocracking catalyst.